Warped Imagination
by imagination-gone-wild
Summary: The Marauders find Snape's spells in his potions book, and try to jump in and stop him from testing them on a certain pupil. Snape & Bellatrix, Lily & James, Lily & Remus just to be evil :D.
1. Back To School

**Chapter 1: Back To School.**

Severus Snape crawled out from under his grey, bland duvet, off his grey, bland bed, onto his grey, bland floorboards, into his grey, bland bathroom.

He straightened up, staring at himself in the mirror. His greasy, long black hair brushed his shoulders.

"Time for a shower," He muttered, turning his back on his reflection.

James Potter threw the covers off his bright, bold bed, sprang out onto the carpet of his bright, bold bedroom, and dashed into his bright, bold bathroom.

He checked himself out in the mirror. His wild black hair, uncontrollable as always, stuck out every which-way, making James (or so he thought) look as if he had just jumped off a broom.

"Looking good, Potter." He grinned at himself, and then leapt into the shower, excited about the day ahead.

"Severus, over here!" Severus jumped, his head snapping up as his name was called across the crowded platform. His only friend, Tom Saffron, was waving at him a few metres away.

Severus slouched over to him, avoiding the many feet that were moving in his direction, attempting to trip him up.

"Hey Sev," Tom greeted him, grinning.

"Hello, Tom." Severus tried to smile back, but his mind was not concentrating on socialising (it rarely was, after all, there was no immediate need for it in Severus Snape's life) and the 'smile' barely moved his lips.

"How are you, Sev? You're a bit distant, and you're usually just as excited as I am about going back to Hogwarts." Tom punched his moody

"Erm… yeah, lets go find an empty compartment. I wouldn't mind sitting down."

James Potter strutted onto Platform 9 ¾, glad that he was finally coming back to Hogwarts, after a long, boring summer without any of his friends.

He turned. "Sirius Black, get your arse in here right NOW!" He commanded, glaring at the magical barrier.

As if James could be heard through the enchanted wall, Sirius appeared almost immediately.

"You called, James?" Sirius enquired, a glint in his eye.

The two friends turned and bowed to the waiting gaggle of giggling girls.

These girls spontaneously burst into cheers, laughter, whoops, and appreciative clapping. They weren't really impressed by the trick, just the fact that it was Sirius Black and James Potter.

"Ah, how you two love to be cheered! I've missed it." James and Sirius turned. One of their fellow Gryffindors, Frank Longbottom, was smiling at them, having just come through the barrier. "What is the fan club supporting now, anyway?"

Sirius grinned back at him. He opened his mouth to explain his and James' perfectly planned start of term trick, but he was interrupted by yet another voice behind them.

"Frank, I think that it would be safe to assume that they have just pulled off yet another of their ridiculous tricks, solely to impress these ladies here, and therefore ensuring an immediate boost to their already blown-up egos, just as term starts."

The boys span around again. Remus Lupin, one of their best friends, was winking at them.

"Hello, Sirius, James, Frank."

"Moony!" James and Sirius roared simultaneously, launching themselves at him. "We were just about to look for you!" Sirius explained. "Yeah," continued James, "Straight after greeting these," here he turned to the girls, who were still gazing at them, "Lovely ladies!" James flashed one of his 'famous Potter grins'.

Frank, at the back of the group, could have sworn that he saw a few of the younger girls, (who were less used to James' smiles) faint.

On the train, Severus and Tom soon found an empty compartment. "Right," Tom checked his watch, settling into a seat, "We've got about ten minutes until the train leaves. What do you want to…" Tom stopped, noticing that Severus had slumped in a seat and was furiously scribbling away in his potions book.

"… Weird." Tom thought, and then decided to occupy himself with solitaire exploding snap until Sev had snapped out of it.

Severus, meanwhile, was far away from the train journey. Usually he would be as excited as Tom was about the first day back (mainly because he was being freed from his house, and anywhere was better than there), but this time he was excited about something else. All summer, he had been working feverishly in his room. He had barely seen the sun, his mother had been worried sick, and he had lost weight as a result of missing meals. He hadn't cared.

Severus had been 'inventing' in his room all summer… inventing the perfect revenge.

For James Potter.

"And _then,_ she fell into the pond. Whenever she finally got out, she was completely soaked, and covered in green pond weed!"

The packed train compartment filled with laughter, as Sirius finished telling his tales of the summer, during which he had been forced to stay with his cousins' country mansion by his parents. He received a lot of sympathy from fellow Gryffindors concerning this, yet Sirius insisted that it had been worth it, because of the great opportunities it had given him to play pranks on his cousins, Bellatrix and Narcissa.

"God, I can barely breathe in here, it's so cramped!" James, having laughed appreciatively at Sirius' story, had realised how full the compartment was. People were sitting on knees, the floor, and in some cases, the luggage rack (Frank Longbottom didn't seem to mind, his long-term crush - a girl called Alice with a pretty, round face and strawberry-blonde hair - had chosen his knee as her preferred place.)! However, James was getting claustrophobic.

"Moony, isn't it time for the prefects rounds?" James desperately tried to think of ways that would alleviate the head count in the compartment a little.

"Oh! Yeah, Prongs, you're right. Frank, d'you wanna come?" Rebus stood and looked at Frank, who seemed putout at the prospect of having to leave Alice.

"Hey, guys, can I come with you?" Alice stood, taking Frank's hand in hers and pulling him slightly.

"Err… yeah, okay, Alice!" Frank's face changed and he looked surprised, but extremely pleased with himself.

Lily Evans, who had been playing a game of wizard chess with Peter Pettigrew, (her queen was just after thrashing his king) leapt up. "Oh crap! I forgot, I'm a prefect now." Lily looked glum at the thought.

It was James' turn to look putout now, "C'mon, Evans, Frank can do your bit for you, he's not a prefect, but it doesn't _really_ matter, does it?"

Lily shot James a look of pure ice. "_Sorry_, Potter, but I'd rather that I did _my own_ duty, thank you very much."

"Shit!" Tom jumped up, having glanced at his watch after finishing off his tenth game of exploding snap, "C'mon, Sev, you told me that you had prefect duties, right?"

Severus looked up, startled. He hadn't torn his eyes from his potions book since the train had started moving.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot." He placed his potions book safely in his trunk, locked it with a wave of his wand, and moved towards the door. Then he remembered that he had ignored Tom for the entire journey, and felt one of his rare pangs of remorse. "Tom, you can come too, if you want." He was sure that his friend would be annoyed at his neglect.

"Oh, well I've got plans, Sev… Poppy wants me to meet her in the corridor in…" Tom glanced at his watch again, "Shit. Five minutes ago."

"Oh! Okay, well you better get going then, and I'll see you later." Severus wasn't surprised as Tom had been going out with Poppy for nearly two years, and he knew that he hated being away from her during the summer. Tom rushed out into the corridor, searching for Poppy along the train.

Severus sighed. Being a prefect meant that he would have to _share_ his duties. Share them with another Slytherin. It didn't sound too bad, but to Severus Snape it was a nightmare. He and Tom were 'the outcasts' of their house. They sat alone in the Great Hall, in the common room, in the library. The Slytherins disliked Tom because he was 'too nice' and he was going out with a 'mud-blood' from Ravenclaw, the ultimate crime in the eyes of the stuck-up Slytherins (they preferred to 'in-breed' as Tom spitefully put it). Severus sometimes wondered how Tom had gotten into Slytherin, and why he wasn't in any of the other houses (he had plenty of friends in Ravenclaw, thanks to his relationship with Poppy) but here Tom was, stuck in a house that hated his guts.

Severus didn't really know why his housemates loathed him. Maybe he was too 'slimy', as that complete asshole James Potter and his stupid groupies put it, or maybe…

Severus moved down the corridor to report to the prefects' compartment. He'd always been an outcast, and Hogwarts wasn't an exception.

James watched Lily Evans leave, exasperated at the damn prefect duties. "Why did _she_ have to bloody well go too?" he exclaimed furiously. "I haven't talked to her all day!"

"Sorry, James, but maybe she didn't really _want _to talk to you." Lily's best friend, Leia, detached herself from Sirius' mouth to answer James' question. "And she does have to report to the prefects' compartment in person."

"Humph." James sulked in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, and glaring at Leia and Sirius, who had resumed their snog fest right in front of him.

"Hey James, do you want to play chess?" James was startled. He had forgotten that Peter was there. Peter's chess pieces were scattered cross the compartment floor, cowering under the seats (Lily's chess playing often had this effect on her opponent's pieces).

"Sure, Pete. Set it up for me."

Severus reached the prefects' compartment five minutes late, but he was sure that no one would have missed him.

He was wrong.

As he entered the compartment, he was greeted with a series of groans and scornful whispers. He trudged over to the Slytherin sign in sheet, and stopped, staring at his fellow prefect.

Bellatrix Black.

"You're late, Snape." She growled, glaring at him and tapping her foot impatiently on the floor.

"Oh, sorry, I……… yeah." Severus finished lamely. He'd fancied Bellatrix since third year. He wasn't quite sure whether this pairing was a stroke of good or bad luck.

Bellatrix rolled her eyes.

"Just sign the sheet, Snape."

"Great," he thought, "Now _she _hates me, too."

He signed the sheet, then looked over at Bellatrix again. "So, what are we supposed to do now?"

She sighed. "If you'd been here five minutes ago, you would have heard for yourself that we have to patrol a rota of corridors for half an hour, check that there's no fights, blockages or loiterers, and basically be bored out of our minds." She smiled. "Come on, then, we better get going."

Severus smiled back. Maybe this year, life wouldn't be so bad.

Lily, Remus, Frank and Alice strolled down the corridors, after Lily and Remus signing in at the prefects' compartment.

"Hey, you two, do you mind if we leave you here?" Frank and Alice had stopped just past an empty compartment.

Lily grinned. She turned to Remus, who smirked back at her.

"Well, as long as you don't cause any _blockages in the corridors_, then I'm sure that we can trust you to be left on your own." Remus smirked at the two.

"Thanks, mate." Frank grinned, grabbed Alice's hand, and led her in through the door of the compartment.

Lily and Remus sniggered. "Oh my God! Alice's fancied him for I don't know how long!"

Remus choked on his pumpkin juice, which he had been drinking from a pocket flask. "Seriously? Frank's always thought that she ignored him!"

Lily laughed. "Yeah, she's been too shy to really speak to him because the first few times she tried, she turned bright red and gained a stutter."

Remus smirked again.

"Funny, isn't it?"

They continued down the corridors in silence, laughing inwardly at Alice and Frank's antics.

Lily had always enjoyed Remus Lupin's company. She'd even had a crush on him in fourth year, but that had quickly passed. Even though Lily Evans had nearly every boy in Hogwarts wrapped around her little finger, she had never found anyone she could have a serious relationship with.

"God, Lily," she thought, "How sad do you sound? You need a man, girl."

She smiled to herself as they rounded a corner, and bumped into Poppy McCormack and Tom Saffron, who were glued together at the mouth.

"Hey, you guys, get a room!" Lily smiled at Poppy, "Sorry, but you're not allowed to loiter in the corridors."

Tom and Poppy flushed. "Hey, Poppy, my compartment probably still empty…" Tom said, smiling at his girlfriend.

"Great!" Poppy grinned back, "Bye, Lily, Bye Remus!" They sped off in the direction of Tom's empty compartment.

Lily stuck her finger in her mouth in an act of disgust as soon as they were out of sight.

"Remus?"

"Lily?"

"Has the calendar suddenly changed, and Valentine's Day is now taking place on the first of September?"

"Hmmm, possible, that is a good theory Miss Evans!"

They laughed and carried on with their rounds.

On the other side of the train, speeding through the Scottish countryside, Severus Snape and Bellatrix Black were patrolling their section of the Hogwarts Express. Severus was getting to know Bellatrix, slowly.

"So, you live in a mansion in the Yorkshire moors, but you hate it?" He asked her, a bit confused by her constant complaints about her home and family.

"Basically. My sister gets on my nerves. She's two years older than me and going out with that absolute asshole, Lucius Malfoy, do you remember him? He left the year before we started Hogwarts, I think. He's disgusting, all slimy, if you know what I mean, and you should see the way he sucks up to my parents!" Bellatrix spat out, "But, what about you? You haven't said much about yourself."

"Erm, well, there's not much to say, I guess." Severus stared at his shoes and dragged them across the carpet. "I live in London with my psychotic, alcoholic dad, and my mum who works in the ministry. We have hardly any money, I'm an only child, and… well, let's just say that my house is not a happy one." Severus stopped, and saw Bellatrix staring at him, gob smacked. "What?" he demanded, defensively.

"All of us, y'know, my group of friends, think that you're just a snob, and that's why you never talk to any of us. There's loads of rumours going round about you being the minister for magic's nephew and filthy rich, and you think that we're all too 'low' for you!"

Now it was his turn to stare. "What!" He exclaimed, loudly, scaring a few passing second years. "I don't talk to other people because they never talk to me. I just assumed that… that they all hated me."

Bellatrix stopped him. "Well, some do," she said, awkwardly, "But now that I know you better, I'm going to set them right. I like talking to you, Severus, you're interesting, and you aren't stupid, unlike some boys I know."

Severus reddened slightly, but he grinned at her. "Call me Sev, Bellatrix."

Bellatrix grinned back, showing her perfectly white teeth. "Call me Bella, Severus."

Lily and Remus finished their rounds, reported back to the prefect's compartment, and made their way to the marauder's (considerably emptier) train compartment.

"Thank God!" Rebus sighed as they sunk into seats.

James and Peter had just finished their game of chess (James was 'slightly' worse at chess than Lily, nevertheless he had managed to checkmate Peter in just under half an hour).

"Hey Evans, Moony!" James said, smiling. He had cheered up now that Sirius and Leia had stopped snogging, and had reverted back to the normal, less disgusting to watch pastime of talking. His mood brightened even more when he saw that Lily was back.

"Hi Potter. Hey, Lisa, why are you still on Sirius' knee? Isn't there enough room for you now that the majority of Gryffindor have moved out of this compartment? Oh!" Lily viewed her best friend shrewdly. "You'd better tell all later!"

Leia giggled. "Oh, aye, that." She slid off Sirius' knee, ignoring his irritated expression.

"Hey!" He pointed out. "I was enjoying that, Leia!" The two girls rolled their eyes. The four boys sniggered.

"Hey, Lily, where are Alice and Frank?" Leia asked, ignoring the sniggering boys, and noticing the absence of the other two.

Remus and Lily snorted, trying, and failing, to suppress laughter.

"C'mon! Give us the gossip!" Sirius demanded.

LATER AT HOGWARTS 

As the marauders, Lily, Alice, Leia and Frank jumped down from the horseless carriage, they cheered at the sight of the castle that they had all sorely missed.

"I'm home." Lily thought.

"I'm _so_ happy." Leia thought, squeezing Sirius' hand.

"I think I'm in love!" Sirius thought, gazing at Leia.

"I _am _in love." James thought, gazing at Lily.

"I'm lucky to have friends like these." Remus thought, grinning at all of them.


	2. At The Feast

**Chapter 2: At The Feast.**

"Welcome to our new pupils. Welcome back to our old friends!" Albus Dumbledore stood at the centre of the staff table, towering over all the seated staff beside him. He beamed at the many students waiting with anticipation for their food, having just endured a rather long and boring sorting. "Before we eat, I have a few announcements to make…"

There was a rather loud groan from a certain student seated at the Gryffindor table. No prizes for guessing who.

Dumbledore's grin grew wider, as he continued, "Yet, those announcements can wait. Dig in!"

With that, the five massive tables filling the Great Hall were suddenly groaning with the weight of indulgent and delicious dishes. A loud (and short) cheer came up from the students, but it was quickly discontinued as the hungry pupils set upon the food.

"He's got no need to say that twice, anyway." Lily remarked, staring scornfully at Sirius, who was stuffing his considerably large mouth with a considerably larger amount of mashed potato.

"What's wrong with being hungry?" asked Remus, having just swallowed his own big, but definitely smaller than Sirius', mouthful of food.

"Yeah, Lily, 'tis a natural thing" piped up Martha O'Neill, a likeable Irish girl with auburn hair and freckled face, and a temper to match Lily's own.

"Nothing's wrong with being _hungry_, but you lot can't be hungry, the last time you ate was less than an hour ago!" Lily retorted.

"Oh, the horror!" Alice exclaimed, joining in, "You _poor_ boys must be _starving_!"

"Shut up, both of you," Sirius butted in, having finally chewed and swallowed (most) of his enormous mouthful, "You know that you won't be able to resist Hogwarts food for long, girlies!" He waved a huge plate of shepherd's pie under Leia's nose.

"_Fine_!" Leia gave in, grabbing the plate off him and sticking her fork into it a little too vigorously for her own liking, "Sorry, Lils, I _am _starving!"

Lily rolled her eyes, as Alice was tempted by spaghetti Bolognese (offered by Frank), and she was left on her own in the tirade against the boys' disgusting eating habits.

"Here, Evans, aren't you hungry?" James Potter had noticed that Lily still hadn't touched any of the many dishes right in front of her.

"Maybe I'm _not_, Potter." She snapped. Was he going to try and win her over with food now? Well, at least it was a new method.

"C'mon, Lily, you need to eat!" Martha tried to coax her upset friend.

"Not until this lot," Lily gestured to the boys, "Try and learn some manners!"

"Lily, why does it matter so much? We eat like pigs all the time, but it's never annoyed you before, or at least, you've never mentioned it." Rebus Lupin's soothing voice came from Lily's left. She hadn't noticed that he was beside her.

To her surprise, Lily blushed. "Erm, yeah, well maybe it's got more to do with the fact that my _friends_ here gave up on me so easily." She glared at Leia and Alice, who both looked satisfyingly ashamed of themselves.

"Evans, just _eat_!" James sighed, exasperated, "We promise to try and eat like civilised humans, don't we, Padfoot, Moony?"

Remus nodded.

"Yeah, _try_." Sirius muttered, his voice muffled through yet another helping of food.

Lily gave in, and reached for the nearest plate. But as she leant over the table, her hand brushed Remus'. Their eyes met, and Lily felt a spark inside her that she had rarely felt before.

Bellatrix invited Severus to sit with her during the feast.

"What about your friends? I thought that they didn't like me." He'd replied, startled by the question.

"Yeah, but if they try anything, they'll get their heads turned inside out." Bellatrix growled. Then she laughed, her face changing in an instant. "I'm only joking! They won't be horrible or anything, just a bit distant. Don't look so worried."

Severus cleared his throat. "Ahem. Can Tom sit with us, too, then?"

Confusion passed over Bellatrix's face. "Tom… Tom Saffron, d'you mean?"

"Yep. He might sit at Ravenclaw with his girlfriend, though."

"Oh, yeah. He's going out with," she scrunched her face up in distaste, "Poppy McCormack, isn't he?"

"Err… yeah. She won't sit with us though, don't worry! She'd probably get cursed up to the roof if she set foot anywhere near the Slytherin table."

Bellatrix turned to him, surprised.

"I _do_ know what you lot think of Poppy, Bella."

"Yeah, well, there's no _probably_ about it. She's a mudblood slut, who doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut."

Severus, on the other hand, did know when to keep his mouth shut, and he identified now as one of those times. He actually quite liked Poppy; she'd always been nice to him, but Bellatrix and her friends had hated her ever since third year, when she'd dated a Hufflepuff that Bellatrix had fancied. This incident had completely put Bellatrix and all her friends off all the other houses, and set off an eternal hatred of Poppy in the house of Slytherin.

Later, as they had entered the castle and headed towards the Great Hall, Tom had caught up with Severus.

"Hey, Sev! Where've you been? I was looking for you at Hogsmeade, but I couldn't find you. Anyways, I'm sitting with Poppy at the Feast, is that ok?"

"Yeah, sure Tom, have a good time. See you later. Common room password's Wormwood."

"Thanks mate! See you!" Tom sped off, back to Poppy.

"Well, that's one problem solved!" Severus said with a smile, turning to Bellatrix. It was a bit strange, but he hadn't wanted Tom to be there with him and Bella, he'd wanted it to be just the two of them.

These hopes were dashed as he approached Bellatrix's place at the Slytherin table.

"_Bella!_ Oh my God, where _have_ you been?" shrieks went up all around them as Severus and Bellatrix sat down at the edge of a massive group of girls.

"I had prefect duties for a bit longer than expected. Sorry, you guys!" she said with a huge grin on her face, "Oh, this is Sev, I asked him to sit with us today."

This last comment caused the girls to go very quiet, as they realised that Severus Snape was seated amongst them.

"_Severus Snape?_" hissed one of Bella's close friends, Marian, in her ear. The comment was meant to be unheard by Severus, but it reached his ears all the same.

"_Snape the Snob?_ Bella, what are you _at_!"

"Shut _up_!" Bella hissed back out of the corner of her mouth, "He's the other Slytherin prefect, he's not as bad as you think, trust me."

"So, _Severus_," slimed a blonde girl to his right that he didn't recognise, "Is your uncle _really_ the minister for magic?"

Severus shifted about in his seat slightly; uncomfortable with the hostile expressions some people were shooting him.

"Err… no, that's not true, and I really don't know how that rumour started. Most of my uncles are further from the minister for magic than I am."

A few girls looked surprised. Many leant in closer to him, interested.

"Really?" continued the blonde girl, looking less sinister than before, "So, what's your family actually like then?"

And Severus Snape found himself recounting his life story for the second time that day.

As the feast was ending, and everyone was rubbing their stuffed stomachs contentedly, Albus Dumbledore stood yet again.

"As I mentioned before, I have a few announcements to make. Firstly, congratulations to all the new pupils on their sorting, I hope that you all fit in well to your respective houses and enjoy life here at Hogwarts. Secondly, Mr. Filch would like me to remind you that there will be a strict corridor patrol this year, and all magic, including magical items, for example _fireworks_, are banned from the corridors."

"That won't stop us, right Prongs?" Sirius whispered to James.

"Nope, nothing can stop us, Padfoot, for we are _unstoppable_!" James winked at his best friend, then turned back to the headmaster.

"And finally, could all prefects please ensure that everyone in their house knows their common room passwords. Thank you."

With these words, the Great Hall erupted into a mixture of cheers, conversation, pushing, shoving, yelling, and just pure chaos.

"Hey, First Years, come over here!" Lily shouted at a few straggling first years.

Sirius, however, was pushing them out of his way.

"God, are _all_ first years this bloody small?"

"They're tiny," agreed Leia, "but most people seem like a midget to you, Mr. Black, you're at least 6 foot 3!"

Sirius grinned, "_Actually_, Miss. Blaine, it's 6 foot 3 _and a half_, thank you very much! Now come on, I want to get good seats in the common room." He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the throng of students and out of the Great Hall.

James turned to Remus, who was helping Lily round up more first years.

"Right, Moony, do you have prefect duties still?"

"Yup. Sorry Prongs, you'll have to follow Padfoot up to the common room. Lily and I have to show the first years at least 3 ways to the common room, taking various routes." Remus rolled his eyes, "Sorry."

"No, it's fine. I'm tired anyway. Night Moony, Night Lil – Evans." He strode towards the Entrance Hall, Peter Pettigrew practically running to keep up.

"Night." Chorused Lily and Remus together. They looked at each other, embarrassed.

"Well… we better get these firsties moving, then." Remus said, finally breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah, yeah… we should…" Lily trailed off, still red.

Remus turned to their eleven-year-old charges. "Okay, you lot, move! Lily Evans here will keep at the back of you, and I'll lead the way. Follow me!" He commanded, and all the tinier students obeyed.

"C'mon, Lily, get a grip on yourself! You _can't _fall for Remus Lupin. He's one of the Marauders! You are _not_ going to let yourself get into a mess like that!" She ran her fingers through her hair, the thoughts in her head spinning around at top speed as she followed the last first year out into the Entrance Hall.

"But," said the smallest voice in the back of Lily Evans' head, "What if you're too late?"

Severus and Bellatrix led the Slytherin first years through what seemed like infinite ways to their common room, reminded them of the password umpteen times, and rescued various small boys and girls from the many different trick stairs, carpets, doors and walls dotted around the castle.

As they pushed the last first year in the direction of the dormitory stairs, Bellatrix turned to face Severus.

"Right. We have to patrol our corridors for about an hour, then we're off duty, thankfully."

"Fair enough," Severus grunted. He didn't really mind, sleep wasn't that high up on his agenda.

They set off on their patrol.

Bellatrix was still explaining why the Slytherins didn't like Severus.

"Y'know, we _would_ have talked to you before, even if your uncle _was_ the minister for magic, you know how some of us are real suckers for power, but it was really because _you_ didn't talk to _us_. That's why we just didn't bother reaching out, I suppose, and your silence just fuelled the rumours of you being a terrible snob."

"Bella. It's fine! I don't care. I suppose that I'm too much of a… recluse to have many friends, and it doesn't bother me. I swear." He smiled at her, trying to make her understand that he really didn't care.

"Well, good!" she grinned back at him in the dimly lit corridor.

Remus and Lily finally got rid of every single small, scared, and rather annoying first-year Gryffindor that had been placed under their care.

"Phew! That's one job done for another year, at least." Remus said, rubbing his hands together and making his way over to the other Marauders, who were sitting by the fire.

"Hey Moony! Prefect duties over, then?" James was pleased to see Remus back; he'd been rather bored watching Sirius and Leia's snogging, and Peter's complete incompetence at exploding snap.

As Remus opened his mouth to reply, Lily marched over, interrupting him.

"No, they're _not_ over. I _told_ you that we have to patrol the school corridors after leaving the first-years off _at least_ twice!" Lily reminded him, fuming. She'd definitely told him – what was it with boys?

"Woah, sorry Lily!" Remus said, slightly taken aback.

"Err… see you, then, Moony!" James raised a hand in farewell at Lily and Remus' retreating backs.

"What is with her today?" he thought. "She's not the same… Lily."

"All the other houses are complete _scum_." Bellatrix finished, "Slytherin is the only pureblood house, there's only been three half-bloods in it's entire history."

"Well, Bella, I can recall _you_ having a bit of a crush on a _certain Hufflepuff_ in third year – What's-his-name…?" Severus teased. He was amazed that he was teasing Bellatrix Black! This time last year he wouldn't have said so much as 'Hello' to her.

"Richie Prewett?" she spat the name out in disgust, "He wasn't worth my attention. Nope, I've seen the light – the other houses are all _scum_."

"Especially Gryffindor." Severus growled under his breath.

"Oh, yeah, the '_Marauders'_ or whatever my _dear_ cousin Sirius calls his sad little group of friends. They're so full of themselves; they act like they own the school. I can't stand them."

"Me neither." He replied, his hands balling into fists at the thought of his arch-enemies, "And I've sworn to get my revenge on _James Potter_ so many times…"

She glanced at him, unsure if he was joking or not. She registered his rage, and was perhaps slightly taken aback, or perhaps slightly impressed.

"Can I help?" she asked, smiling slightly.

"Help with what!" Severus looked down at her (not far to look, as he wasn't exactly a giant and Bellatrix was quite tall for a girl), confused.

"With revenge."

Remus and Lily strolled through North Tower, patrolling their section of the school.

"Lily, are you okay? You seem a bit… off today."

With this comment, Lily's thoughts resumed the mad rush around her head. "Omigosh, he noticed that I was acting strangely… what does that mean? Has he noticed me blushing a lot today? Does he feel the same way? Or worse… does he _not_ feel the same way?"

Then, her thoughts slowed down as she realised that she hadn't answered his question. "Lily Evans, you're being stupid! He's going to think that you're some sort of stupid squib! Answer him!!"

"Oh! Well, I dunno. Hormones?" she finally stuttered out, a few seconds after the question had been asked.

She kicked herself. "What a shit answer! What are you doing, Lily Evans? You're just digging yourself into a deeper hole."

Remus looked at her in concern. "Hmmm… I think it can be cured…."

And he pushed her over, tripping her up.

Lily gasped in surprise. "Hey! Two can play at that game!" she shouldered him into the statue they were passing, which wobbled rather threateningly.

"Now, Evans, no one takes on the great Remus Lupin and gets away that easily!"

She snorted. "Yeah, ri – AHHHH!" He had grabbed her and started to tickle. Lily Evans was a ticklish person.

"Stop! Unfair!" she shrieked. They stumbled into an alcove, his arms pinning her arms up, so he could reach her most ticklish bits – the armpits.

Then, out of nowhere, his arms had slid down and were wrapped around her waist, he was pulling her closer. Their eyes were closed, their lips parted.

And then they were kissing. Lily felt like she was drowning in him, that she _needed_ this to just survive…

Remus quickly pulled away, looking shocked at himself.

"Lily, I'm sorry, I didn't…" he mumbled, touching his lips as if he couldn't believe what he had just done.

"No, it's okay, I don't mind, you're not pushing yourself on me or anything, don't be sorry." She comforted him, trying to pull him back to her.

"Lily, it's not just that, it's… well, it's a lot of things."

"Like what!" she demanded, annoyed, "Like _James Potter_? He's your friend, sure, but he can't _control your life_, Remus! _Or_ mine!"

"Lily, I know he can't control either of us, but he likes you so, so much, I couldn't take you from him _knowing_ how he feels about you. I shouldn't… and anyway, it's not just James."

"Well, what else is it then!" she got no answer. She pushed him away, and strolled off down the corridor at an amazing pace.

He came for her.

"Lily, wait."

She spun round. She could always forgive him… maybe. She was startled to see that he was right behind her. "Wow!" she thought, "He can move fast!"

"Yes, Remus?" she enquired, icily.

"Don't do this to me! You _know_ how close I am to James, and you _know_ that it would wreck my friendship with him _and_ Sirius if I went out with you."

"But he doesn't have to know!" she cried in desperation. Just when she thought that life could be getting better, it took a turn for the worse. All because of James Potter.

Remus took her in his arms again. Lily noticed that they were covered in scars and scratches. She stroked them absentmindedly, all anger seeming to disappear from her. She made a mental note to ask him about the scars later.

"No. No, Lily, he _doesn't _have to know."

When Severus and Bellatrix eventually reached the end of their shift and their common room entrance was looming, you would have thought that they had discussed enough to figure out the meaning of life. They'd talked at length about every imaginable topic, and were still able to think of new interests.

"Oh! We're back!" Bellatrix was surprised to see the grey, cold, stonewall in front of them, which led to the Slytherin common room.

"Yep. Time flies when you're with Severus Snape."

"Oh _yes_, because _you're_ the best fun to grace earth, aren't you?" she raised her eyebrows.

Then, she stopped him just before the hidden door by grabbing his hand.

"Sev, at first I was annoyed because the other prefect was you. But now, I'm having a really good time, and I'm never going to let anyone judge you again."

He reddened, hoping that she would not notice this in the flickering torchlight.

"You're a great guy, you know."

She squeezed his hand, bent in, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Sev." She whispered. She gazed at him for a few more seconds, then gently dropped his hand and entered the common room.

He stood there, stunned, for what seemed like an age, until finally he murmured,

"Goodnight, Bella."

And followed her in through the secret common room door.


End file.
